1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packages having a generally cuboid shape and particularly to packages which receive plural articles which are confined within an inner wrapper. More specifically, this invention is directed to a method for the formation of generally cuboid-shaped packages and especially to package blanks which may be formed into such packages in accordance with the said process. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved articles, i.e., packages and package blanks, and methods of such character.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While not limited thereto in its utility, the present invention has been found to be particularly well suited for use in the packaging of cigarettes. It is common practice in the cigarette packaging art to envelope the product in a paper inner wrapper about which a "box" having a hinged lid is formed by folding a box blank. There are two general types of cigarette packaging systems which are commercially employed. These packaging systems are known in the art as "side-folding" and "bottom-folding" packers. In both cases, where hinged-lid packages are to be produced, the apparatus required has been complicated and thus costly. Also, in both types of known packaging systems it has been common practice to first seal the cigarette block within the inner wrapper and then fold the box blank, i.e., the outer wrapper, around the inner wrapper. In accordance with conventional prior art practice, the hinged lid has been formed from a portion of the box blank which is located entirely on the side of the blank which defines the rear side of the outer wrapper when the package is completed. This has resulted in the hinged lid being connected to the box only by means of a hinge line.
One example of a prior art technique for the formation of hinged-lid packages is depicted in British Patent No. 852,447. In the technique of this British patent the front and rear sides of a box are connected to one another via a side-wall tab. The front and cover walls of the hinged lid are separated from the adjacent front and side walls of the box by means of an incision, but are connected laterally to the remaining portions of the blank from which the box is formed. The technique of British Patent No. 852,447 has the disadvantages that the package blank must be folded on a bottom-folding packer and the inner wrapper must be completely closed about the contents of the package before the blank is folded into the hinged-lid box.
Published German patent application No. 2,551,427 depicts another technique for forming hinged-lid packages which, as is the case with the technique of the above-mentioned British patent, is suitable only for implementation with a bottom-folding packer. Bottom folding packers are inherently more complex apparatus than are side-folding packers. This published German application suggests the provision of connecting bridges to the front side and side-wall tabs of the box in the region of the severed cut between the front and side walls of the hinged lid.